Railroad-spike.



- R. P. MADELEY.

RAILROAD SPIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12. I9l5.

Fig-1.

z iadeley Patented July 9,1918.

RALPH r. M-ADELEY, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

RAILRoAD-SPIKE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH P. MADELEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sacramento, in the county of Sacramento .and State of California, have invented cerand the invention has for its object to provide a spike of eflicient and inexpensive con- 'struction including a laterally projecting head and a notch formed in the shank directly below the head and having the shank curved from end to end to automatically spring the headed end of the shank forwardly during driving thereof so as to engage the base' flange of the rail Within the vnotch, and thus reliably lock the spike and rail against relative movement in a vertical plane.

Another ob ect is theprovision of means located upon the convex front face of the spike designed to cooperate with the cut fibers of the tie or other wood object to reliably anchor the spike against removal.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts as will be hereinafter specifically described, claimed d and illustrated in theaccompanyingdrawing in which:

F lgure 1 represents a side elevation of a railway tie, partly broken away, illustrating the spike applied to use, and I Fig. 2 represents a perspective view of the spike removed. a

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts .throughout the several views, the numeral 5 indicates generally the spike which includes a shank and ahead 6 at one end thereof projecting adistance' laterally of the front and rear faces of'the receive the edge port-ionof the base flange 9 of a railway rail.

The spike shank is curved from end to end defining a convex front face 8 and a concave rear face 9, the side faces 10 of the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented m a, rare.

Application filedMarch 12, 1915. Serial No. 13,912.

spike shank being substantially straight. The front face 8 atthe end opposite the head 6 is increased in curvature or beveled, asfat 11, to define a relatively sharp cutting edge 12 designed to cut the fibers of the tie '13 as the spike. is driven therein.

A plurality of transversely disposed shoulders 13 are formed upon the front convex face 8 of the shank at suitably spaced points to provide anchoring means to reliably secure the spike within the tie. The portions 14: of the front face 8 above or adjacent to the shoulders 13 are cut inwardly or inclined so as to not unduly retard the inward movement of the spike when driven.

Iii-driving the spike, its point or cutting edge 12 is fitted up against the base flange 9*, and the spike is driven into the tie by blows delivered upon the head 6 with a suitable tool. As the spike is driven into the tie the front convex surface 8 thereof hugs the edge of the base flange, with constantly increasing pressure on account of the peculiar curvature of the spike shank. When the spike is driven home, the upper headed end thereof springs inwardly toward the base flange 9, engaging the latter within the recess or notch 7 and thus reliably locking the spike against upward movement relative to the rail. beveled surface 11 at the pointed end of the spike deflects the latter laterally tending to increase the curvature of the shank and simultaneously deflecting the out fibers of the wood which latter are engaged behind the shoulders 13 and reliably lock the It is clearly evident that the- 9 become disengaged from the recess or notch 7, due to excessive vibration of the rail and tie, the upward or receding movement of the spike relative to the tie will be arrested when the shoulder 13 engages the base flange 9 The rearwardly projecting portion of the head 6 rests upon the tie or wear plate positioned thereon, thus reinforcing the head and materially assisting in preventing lateral movement of the rail in the direction toward the spike.

Vhat I claim is: l

-A spike including ashank, a forwardly projecting head carried by one terminal of the shank, the opposite end of the shank being beveled to provide a cutting edge,

said shank being curved from end to end and. having the entire portion of the front face lying between the head and the beveled In testimony whereof I affik my signature end of convex form, said convex front face in presenbe of two Witnesses.

having recesses providing anchorin shoul- RALPH P. MADELEY. ders lying inwardly of the come ace and Witnesses: 5 facing the headed terminal of the spike I JOSEPH ONEIL,

shank. HENRY G. FREY. 

